BX 7255 
.B7 S72 
Copy 1 



BX 




17 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, i 




Chap. JEX-7Z-53 

Shelf __, l^.^T-^ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 







HISTORICAL DISCOURSE 



PREACHED TO THE 



SOUTH EVANGELICAL CHURCH, 



WEST ROXBURY^ 







TKCOIv(r.if^S IL,^!?^TJE.IE,, I^.A.STOX^- 

-Ps7/j. 145:4. One generation shall praise thy Avork to another. 



BOSTON : 
^,j PKINTED BY S. O. THAYER, OVER BOYXSTOX MARKET, 
1861. 





^iV 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE 



PREACHED TO THE 



SOUTH EVANGELICAL CHUIICH, 



WEST ROXBURY. 

JUNE 10, 1860, / ^^ ---^==^!5^-^ # Nx 



THOIv^-A-S I^-A-TJIilE- I>-A.STOI?,. 



PAfM. 115:4. One generation shall praise thy work to another. 



BOSTON: 

PKIXTED BY S. O. THAYER, OVER BOY'LSTOX MARKET, 

1861. 



JE)X7^55 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 031705 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 



Thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, 
in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place. Deut. 1:31. 

This Church is twenty-five years old to-morrow, hav- 
ing been organized June 11, 1835, and, though in the 
case of such a little Benjamin among the thousands of 
Israel, it would be out of place to make a great parade 
on the occasion, yet it seems proper to recount the deal- 
ings of God with us in the past, and make grateful men- 
tion of his kindness to us in the feebleness of our infancy. 

Moses addressing Israel on the plains of Moab after 
the perils of the desert, reminds them that all through 
that desert God had carried them in his arms as a father 
carries his child along the path too difRcult for his little 
feet to tread alone. It is a lovely picture. What heart 
can look on it anr- not be touched with its delineation of 
the tender love of our Father who is in Heaven. But 
it is only one of man employed to set forth the same 
loving kindness, and yet all together failing to do justice 
to a love which passed knowledge. 

Already at Horel^ Cod had said to his people, ^-ye 
have seen how I bare you on eaglets wings and brought 
you unto mvself," and some of those roval birds sailing 



serenely above those granite peaks may have illustrated 
the beauty of these words of the Lord, while they were 
being uttered by his servant Moses. 

And now on these plains beyond Jordan, it must have 
been interesting to recall events that had occurred within 
the memory of some that heard him ; and as memory 
reviewed a past unlike that of any other people, with 
what power must the words have come home to their 
hearts: "The Lord thy God bare thee as a man doth 
bear his son in all the way that ye went until ye came 
into this place." 

But few among the thousands whom Moses addressed 
could go back to the beginning of their desert journey ; 
and so now, though this church has existed only a little 
more than half the period reviewed by the Hebrew Law- 
giver, yet the memory of our feeble beginnings are fast 
fading away. Few of the original actors survive. The 
Leader through whom God blessed us in the day of 
small things has gone to his reward, and it is left to a 
stranger who took no part in them, to glean the few facts 
still within reach, ere they pass mto oblivion. If the 
sketch is imperfect, you will bear in mind, that it was 
gathered from various sources, a fragment here and 
another there, and then fitted together simply that God's 
care of us in our weakness might not be forgotten, but 
prepare us to trust him with a firmer confidence for time 
to come. As it is written, "He will regard the prayer of 
the destitute and not despise their prayer. This shall 
be written for the generation to come and the people 
which shall be created shall praise the Lord." 



Let us commence with a brief allusion to the early 
history of religion in the town, for in recording a few 
facts concerning the early days of a younger sister, it 
seems exclusive to omit all mention of the rest of the 
family. 

.The first Church in Roxbury (now Dr. Putnam's) was 
organized in 1632, twelve years after the landing of the 
Pilgrims, and two hundred and three years before the 
formation of our own. It commenced with only seven- 
teen male members, dismissed from the church in Dor- 
chester, and according to the custom of those days had 
both a Pastor and a Teacher : Thomas Weld filling the 
first office and the celebrated John Eliot the second. 
We have only time to notice that the united pastorate of 
Mr, Eliot and his successor, Nehemiah Walter, amounted 
to one hundred and twenty years, each of them having 
labored not far from sixty years, a fact which perhaps 
has few parallels in either ancient or modern history. 

The second church was formed in what is now West 
Roxbury, and not far from the territorial centre of the 
town, November 2d, 1712, about eighty years after the 
first. Their meeting house stood on Walter street, a 
name perhaps strange to most of you, for it is now an 
old road very little used and as little cared for by the 
town, though within the memory of some now living it 
was a main thoroughfare to Boston. It extends from 
the residence of Mr. Skinner on South street, to Bussey 
street, and the old grave yard formerly connected with 
the meeting house, is the only memorial left to designate 
the spot. In 1852 I attended the funeral of an old lady 



(Elizabeth Richards, aged iiinety-sixj) who used to attend 
meeting there in early life, though the building was not 
used for church purposes after 1773, Rev. Ebenezer 
Thayer (ordained 1712, deceased 1733) was the first 
Pastor in this church, and as an old volume of his ser- 
mons entitled " Chi^ist the gi^eat subject of Gospel preach- 
ing" has fallen into my hands, I propose to read one of 
them this afternoon that you may see what sort of preach- 
ing West Roxbury enjoyed one hundred and forty years 
ago. -^ 

At present hear the covenant, signed by Mr. Thayer 
and seventeen others at the organization of the church. 
I do not need to read the Confession of Faith, for at that 
time the Westminster (1647) and Boston (1680) Con- 
fessions were the Articles of Faith of our churches, docu- 
ments much more full and explicit than the creeds of our 
day, and well worthy the careful study of you all. 

The covenant is laid before you not merely to attest 
the orthodoxy of that early church — for the discourse of 
the afternoon will leave nothing to be desired on that 
score — but because it presents such a beautiful mstance 
of christians caring for their cliildren as well as for 

* The title pag-e of the volume is as follows : *' Christ the great subject 
of Gospel preaching-, and matter of great joy to all v%'hora he is preached unto, 
being the substance of several Sermons, from Acts 8:5 and 8 ; ^hereunto are 
added practical reflections on the first and last days of the year 1721, By Ebenezer 
Thayer, Pastor of a Church in Roxbury. Luke 2:10 and 11.— Behold 1 bring you 
good tidings of great joy for unto you is born a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. 
Boston, printed by S. Kneeland, for S. Gerrish and D. Henchman, and sold at 
their shops, MDCCXXI. " 

The volume contains 12 Sermons, with an Epistle to th? reader, by Nehemiah 
Walter, of the first Church, and a dedication to the second Church by their 
Pastor, both dated May 28, 1722. It is much to be desired that these twelve dis- 
courses could be published, that men might know on what kind of spiritual 
food their fathers fed more than four generations ago. The sermon preached in 
the afternoon was the first in the series, and it is due to >!r. Thayer to say that it 
was received with unu-^ual attention and marked satisfaction. 



themselves. The religious horizon of West Roxbiuy 
brightened up before me when I first read this covenant 
of the Fathers^ and it will be one of the instructive les- 
sons of heaven to trace out its results in the children 
and the children's children of those who entered into it 
in spirit and in truth. But let the document speak for 
itself: — 

"We, whose namss are hereunto subscribed, apprehending 
ourselves called of God to join together in Church Com- 
munion — acknowledging ourselves unworthy of such a priv- 
ilege and our inability to keep covenant mth God, or to per- 
form any spiritual duty, unless Christ shall enable us there- 
unto — in humble dependance on divine grace for divine 
assistance and acceptance, we do in the name of Christ Jesus 
our Lord freely covenant, and bind ourselves solemnly in the 
presence of God himself, his holy angels and all his servants 
here present, to serve the God whose name alone is Jehovah, 
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the only true and living God, 
cleaving to Him as our chief good, and unto our Lord Jesus 
Christ as our only Saviour, Prophet, Priest and King of our 
souls, in a way of Gospel obedience avouching the Lord to 
be our God and the God of our children, whom we give unto 
him, counting it as a high favor that the Lord will accept of 
us and our children with us to be his people. 

We do also give ourselves to one another in the Lord, 
covenanting to walk together as a Church of Christ in all the 
ways of his worship according to the rules of his holy word, 
promising in brotherly love faithfully to watch over one 
another's souls, and to submit ourselves to the discipline and 
power of Christ in his Church,^ and duly attend to the seals 
and censures, or whatever ordinances Christ has commanded 
to be observed by his people, so far as the Lord by his word 
and spirit hath or shall reveal unto us to be our duty, beseech- 

* I cannot pass that sentence without expressing my heart's desire and prayer 
to God for ail the nuembers of our churches, that they would keep in mind in trans- 
acting church business that it is not the discipline of man but of Christ, about 
Avhich they are engaged. If this truth was always borne in mind how would Zion 
arise, her light being come and the glory of the Lord being risen upon her. 



ing tlie Lord to own us for his people and to delight to dwell 
in the midst of us. 

And that we may keep our covenant with God, we desire 
to deny ourselves and to depend wholly on the free mercy of 
Gjd and upon the merits of Jesus Christ, and wherein we 
shall fail, to wait upon him, for pardon through his name, be- 
seeching the Lord to own us as a church of Christ, and to 
delight to abide in the midst of us. Amen." 

Such was the first covenant the people of God in this 
place entered into with the Lord^ and with one another. -' 

In December 1770^ a third Church was formed in 
Jamaica Piain^ with Wm. Gordon for its Pastor ; settled 
July 1772. The second Church after this^ left the old 
meeting house in Walter St.^ and erected the one now 
occupied by them, in 1773, At first it was without a 
spire^ but the present neat and well proportioned one 
was added in 1822. 

We have seen how sound in the Faith both the first 
and second Churches were at their beghmings. It is sad 
however to note the gradual decay of vital piety and 
evangelical doctrine, that^ commencing previous to the 
Revolution^ went on through the latter part of the last 
century until in the early part of the present, it is to be 
feared that the Gospel of Salvation through the Atone- 
ment of a Divine Redeemer was not preached anywhere 
in Roxbury. We will say nothing of neighboring towns, 
for our business at present is with our own. 

The first standard lifted up against this general de- 
clension was by the Baptist Church in Dudley Street, 

* This covenant Avas copied from tlie orig-inal records of the Church, 
which was kindly lent to me by those having them in charge, to ascertain another 
point, and it is used in this discourse in accordance with their obliging permission 
to make »uch use of it a?? I saw fit. 



organized in 1821, and that stood alone for thirteen 
years, until the Eliot Church joined it in bearing testi- 
mony for the truth, Sept. 18, 1834. Our ottu little 
church was the thiixl of the cloud of witnesses that now 
preach Jesus Clirist and him crucified as the only ground 
of hop9 for sinners. 

It is interesting to trace out the manner in which 
Providence opened the way for the establislmient of this 
Church, for it furnishes a beautiful illustration of the 
truth that God is never at a loss for an instrument, and 
that often he chooses the most unlikely agencies to 
accomplish his designs. 

A young woman from W. Roxbury named Rebecca Jor- 
dan, lived in the family of Dr. Burgess, at Dedliam, and a 
little girl of her acquaintance, Mary "Whiting by name, 
used to go from West Roxbury to ^dsit her on the Sabbath. 
The visitor was induced to go to meeting, and became 
quite interested in what she heard. Xot content with go- 
ing herself she tried to persuade her friends at home to go 
too. But in this she was at first doomed to disappoint- 
ment ; for her father, who was noted for his harshness, 
peremptorily forbade her visits to Dedham, and threat- 
ened to punish her if she persisted. Poor Mary was 
for a time in great distress ; but God opened the way 
for her in a manner she did not anticipate. Her father 
and grand-father both died, and left the family without 
any one to carry on the farm. To remedy tliis evil her 
grandmother sent for Mr. Aaron Cass, who had married 
little Mary's aunt, and removed to New Hampshire, to 
come and live with her and take care of the estate. He 



10 



came ; and now Mary could not only go to meeting her- 
self, but succeeded in inducing all the family to go with 
her. The result was that all four of them joined the 
church in Dedham — three generations entering the fold 
at once. Years passed by, and on Sabbath evening, 
August 26, 1832, Mrs. Whiting opened her house for 
preaching. Dr. Wheaton of Dedham opened the meeting 
with prayer, and Mr. Peabody, a student in the Newton 
Theological Seminary, preached the sermon. The latter, 
with the aid of several of his fellow students, and once 
at least of Rev. Mr. Grafton the Baptist Minister of 
Newton, continued the meetings for thirteeen successive 
Sabbath evenings. The death of Mrs. Cass then inter- 
rupted them, although the attendance which was small at 
first had increased every week until they closed. 

The meetings were not resumed again that venter, 
probably because that while they had been conducted 
by Baptist students ; the church members who attended 
them, with one exception, were Congregationalists. 

The large attendance also had shown the need of a 
larger room than could be found in a private house, and 
in March 1833, we find the Hall that formerly occupied 
the second story of the old building across the street, 
rented for $12 per annum, and fitted up for public wor- 
ship at an expense of $25. The accommodations were 
of the most primitive description. A. plain standing 
desk, that may still be seen in the basement below this 
church, served for a pulpit, and benches without backs 
furnished seats for the audience. Still they could boast 
a choir with a bass viol, and a subscription of $126.50 



11 



by twenty-eight persons in sums vaiying from 50 cts. to 
$30, to meet the expenses of the year. Tliis last how- 
ever seems to have grown out of the commencement of 
Dr. Bargess' labors among them, for, Sabbath evening, 
April 14th, he preached his first sermon in the Hall to a 
congregation of about 50, from Rev, 22 :17, last clause? 
^'whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely,'' 
and ten days later we find the subscription paper with 
the following heading : 

** We, the subscribers, who wish well to gooi order and 
religion, feel ourselves under the greatest obligations to Rev. 
Mr. Burgess for his labor with us and his desire for our 
prosperity and everlasting happiness ; we therefore wish that 
our nieeting may be continued, and we do as members feel 
satisfied and willing to give the following sum :" 

Ten of the twenty-eight subscribers were members of 
Dr. Burgess' church, and he very judiciously charged 
$68.04 for his labors during the year, that they might 
feel that the undertaking was their own, and at the same 
tune form those habits of giving, without which it could 
not be carried on. 

His own account of his labors, in a letter dated March 
21, 1860, is as follows : 

*'Ten or twenty of the members of my church, chiefly 
females, being residents in that vicinity, desired some lec- 
tures in a hall once celebrated for dancing. Mr. A. Cass, 
and the late Capt. Edward Richards were the prominent 
men, I preached in person every Sabbath evening for one 
year as if to my own people. A cloud of glory overshadowed 
us : some few ware coaverted and others comforted and 
confirmed. The Lord planted the vine ; He has watered it, 
and to Him be the praise." 

The Dr. however was in error on one point, for a 



12 



MS. journal; kept at the time by a memlx>r of this 
church, gives the names of Dr. Cogswell, Dr. Beecher, 
Dr. Codman, Rev. Mr. Stearns, Rev. Mr. Bliss and other 
neighboring pastors as having occupied Dr. Burgess^ 
place on different Sabbath evenings during the year. 
Among them was the future pastor of the church, who 
preached his &st sermon here in January 1834. 

The people were so well satisfied with Dr. Burgess' 
labors, that Feb. 24, 1884, they made another subscrij> 
tion with the following hea ding : 

** We, the subscribers, believe that the public worship of 
God, and institutions of piety, religion and morality, pro- 
mote the prosperity of a people and the security of a Repub- 
lican government. As one year will close with the first Sun- 
day in April since the meeting commenced, we do therefore 
feel satisfied and willing to give the following sums set to 
our names to have it continued, commencing the second Sun- 
day in April." 

This heading is copied in full, because it affords such 
an insight either into the personal feelings of the man 
who wrote it, or the motives he deemed likely to have 
most weight with others. We shall see other motives 
set forth however in the next document. The subscrip- 
tion by fifty individuals amounts to $212.75, showing an 
increase of twenty-two names and $98.25 over the pre- 
ceeding one. 

On April 21, 1834, eight persons "signed off'' from 
the Unitarian Society of the second Parish, and on the 
same day twenty-two persons signed the following docu- 
ment, of whom nine afterwards became members of the 
church. 

*' We, the subscribers, feeling the necessity of hearing the 



13 



Gospel preached in its purity, as it was taught by Christ and 
his Apostles, and as it was formerly believed and taught in 
this place by our forefathers, ani that we may not be com- 
pelled to go out of town to meeting, hereby agree to form 
ourselves into a society by the name of the West Roxbury 
Evangelical Society for the purpose above named." 

This original name of the Society is the same after- 
wards adopted in 1 854 except that in the last the word 
^^ South" is added to distinguish it from other Evangelical 
societies now existing in the town. 

In this connexion it seems proper to make mention of 
the favor Avhich God inclined Dr. Burgess to show to us 
in the days of our weakness: though justice to him 
requires me to state that when applied to for the facts^ 
he very modestly declined to give them, sapng : 

^*I think that a curtain had better rest over the pecu- 
niary part of the whole work ; the faith and prayer are 
of more value. We always considered the church in 
West Roxbury as a colony from the first church in Ded- 
ham, (thirteen out of the original twenty-five members of 
this church were from liis) and our plan was that the 
parent should lielp the child if necessary, and that no 
help should be asked from the Home Missionary Society, 
or any other body, or individuals, except in the building 
of the edifice." 

I learn liowever from other sources, that in accordance 
with tliis generous plan. Dr. Burgess gave 8300 in 1834, 
S250 in 1835, S200 in 1836 and so on, diminishing SoO 
every year, intending to stop when in this manner it had 
come down to nothing. But subsequently he commenced 
ajcain at $150 diminishino: as before, and on various occa- 



14 



sions added more, until the sum total of his benefactions 
to this church must have exceeded $1500,00. Such 
christian kindness ought not to be forgotten. It is not 
always that neighboring pastors give so freely both of 
theii' members and their means to the infant churches 
that grow up round about them. Yet while we thus 
make grateful mention of the friend of our early days, 
let us not forget who gave him both the disposition and 
the power to help us, and let us join him in his devout 
acknowledgment; "The Lord planted the vine, He has 
watered it and to Him be the praise." Surely when we 
think of the spiritual mercies vouchsafed over and above 
these temporal favors, of the prayers indited by the 
spirit and answered of the Father for the sake of his 
beloved son, of the souls that here have been created 
anew in Christ Jesus and are now either honoring their 
Saviour on earth or adoring him in heaven, we may well 
say that ^^in the wilderness we have seen how the Lord 
our Grod bare us as a man doth bear his son in all the 
way that we have journeyed until we came into this 
place." 

It ought also to be recorded here with gratitude, that 
owing to this generous aid from a neighboring pastor the 
whole amount received from the Home Missionary Soci- 
ety during the protracted struggles of this church was 
only $650, and none of that previous ta 1841. 

But it is time to turn to the labors of our first pastor, 
the Rev. Cliristopher Marsh. He came here in the 
fortieth year of his age, a man of robust health and 
"great practical wisdom/' having already made full proof 



15 



of his ministry first at Sanfbrd and then at Biddeford in 
Maine. He labored here, with tlie exception of the two 
years that he spent as a Sabbath School agent, from 1834 
to 1851, and it is an interesting fact that in his old age^ 
*God led him back to the scene of his earliest labors, to 
find the chikken he had baptized in infancy, office bearers 
in the church, and then to go home from amid the rejoic- 
ings of a new harvest of souls, that he gathered in for 
Christ. 

On his first arrival here, he was received with open 
arms by Mr. Edward Richards, whose name deserves 
honorable mention among the foimders of this church. 
The first year he gave Mr. Marsh his house rent, (|65) 
and $40 beside, and his minister occupied the same 
house, while he continued the liberality of that first year, 
down to the time of his death in 1847. "What renders 
this the more remarkable is that he was not a church 
member when Mr. Marsh came, nor had he received any 
training in christian benevolence. It was the spon- 
taneous outflow of a heart naturally generous, and 
already under the influence of the spirit of God. We 
are not surprised to find such a man applying for admis- 
sion at the first communion season, and undeterred by 
discouragement received before the second. Well might 
his pastor speak of him as a man whom God had raised 
up to foster the feeble beginnings of this church, one 
without whom — humanly speaking — it could not have 
been established ; rather, he was privileged to do so much 
for it, by him who might have selected another, in whom 
to show forth the same operation of his heavenly grace. 



16 



Mr, Marsh commenced preaching in the Hall on Sab- 
bath evening, April 7, 1834^ and on May 11th of the 
same year, began regular services there during the day. 
But so few were present the &st time — about 30 adults 
and as many children — that he was almost discouraged, 
and though the congregation slowly increased yet it was 
long before it could compare with the previous attend- 
ance in the evening. 

It is a further illustration of the intimate relations of 
this church to the first church in Dedham, that during 
this year Mr. Marsh usually preached a part of each 
Sabbath in Dedham and Dr. Burgess in West Roxbury. 

The fii^st Sabbath School was held on the afternoon 
of May 18th, with I)r. Samuel Gould as Superintendant. 
The number of teachers or scholars cannot now be 
ascertained. Dr. Gould, though of a reth^ing disposition, 
seems to have been a man of sterling piety, and in his 
own quiet unobtrusive way rendered important service 
to the church. 

The first monthly concert was observed on Monday 
evening, July 7th, and the first benevolent contribution 
of this church was $8,65 to the A, B. C. F. M,, accord- 
ing to a receipt dated Sept. 3, 1834, marked ^^Xo. 1,'" in 
the handwriting of Mr. Marsh, and signed by Dr. Bur- 
gess as Treasurer of the Foreign Missionary Society of 
Norfolk County. 

The first legal meeting of the Parish was held April 
10, 1835, when Wm. S. Keith was chosen Clerk, and 
Dr. S. Gould, Moderator. Previous to this, several meet- 
ings had been held with reference to the formation of a 



17 



church, which resulted in its organization June 11th of 
the same year. The services were held in the Hall; and 
the sermon was preached by G. W. Blagxlen. D. D., then 
of Salem street, Boston, Dr. Burgess very appropriately 
4riving the fellowship of the churches to tlieir younger 
sister. Eighteen persons brought letters fi^om other 
churches, and seven entered into covenant for the first 
time, making a little band of twenty-five in all, wliich 
before the end of the year increased to thirty-three. 

The first member of this church who Avas called home 
to the general assembly and church of the first born, was 
Mrs. Elizabeth Hobart, who died August 27. a little 
more than two months and a half after the organization 
of the church, and there are some facts in her history 
that claim a grateful mention in this connection. Her 
oldest son, when lie was a boy ten years of age, heard 
an unusual noise up stairs one morning as of persons 
engaged in earnest conversation ; he listened, but could not 
hear what was said, and thought no more of it until 
next morning at the same hour he noticed his mother go 
up stairs, and very soon the same sounds were heard 
again. Child-like, his curiosity was excited, and creeping 
softly to the door of the chamber where his mother was, 
he heard her wrestling in prayer for each of her nine 
children by name, and then for her husband and all of 
them together. The burden of her prayer was ^^^not 
earthly good, but salvation and eternal life for Jesus' 
sake." He had never known of such a thing before, ai:d 
was so overcome by what he had heard that he went out 
and spent most. of the forenoon alone in tears, nor could 



18 



he get ricl of the feelings then awakeiK3d, until eleven 
years after, he came to Christ and joined the church in 
Park street, Boston. His father united with the same 
churchy and now of the nine children of that praying 
mother^ eight have been converted, and the ninth is a re- 
gular attendant on one of the sanctuaries where Ids 
mother worshipped God, Three out of the four children 
of her eldest son are also members of the church. How 
much the prayer of their godly grandmother had to do 
with their conversion^ will be made known in that day 
when the secret channels of grace shall all be laid open. 
Two of her children have already followed her into rest. 
But when one of her sons came not long since to the 
little graveyard close by, to remove the remains of his 
mother to his own tomb in Forest Hill Cemetery, such 
changes had taken place in the vault where they were 
deposited, that they could not be identified ; yet that 
"body being still united to Christ doth rest in its grave 
till the Resurrection/*' and while her soul is present with 
the Lord, the streams of holy hifluence which proceeded 
from her here, still flow on to the praise and glory of 
her covenant God. 0^ that living, we might be like 
her, and like her when we are dead, may our memory 
also still glorify our Saviour, 

Soon after the organization of the cliurch it was pro- 
posed to erect a meeting house, and Mr. Edw. Richards 
gave the land on which this house now stands. Of the 
Building Committee of eight, which was chosen Aug. 23, 
1835, the only member still with us is Mr. Geo. Craft. 
$845 was subscribed here for the building; some two 



19 



hundred persons in eleven towns round about gave $800, 
and in Boston large hearted friends of Chi'ist subscribed 
about §4:000,00. The Ladies here, with some help from 
abroad, gave the pulpit which cost $200. The commun- 
ion table costing one-tenth as much, was the gift of a 
good Methodist Lady, now gone to her rest, (Mrs. Lucy 
Clark, sister of Mrs. E. Eichards.) The chairs were 
presented bv the wife of the oldest son of the mother in 
IsraeL whose prayers and their results have just been 
mentioned. The old pulpit Bible now used in the chapel 
was the gift of one to whom this church owes a debt of 
gi^atitude for unwearied labors all the time she dwelt 
among us, and whose name needs no conmiendation to 
those that knew her. (Mrs. Lucy G., wife of Rev. C. Marsh) 
and the &st communion service was given by the late 
Judge Hubbard, no less distinguished for his chiustian 
vktues than for his judicial integrity. 

It is pleasant to look back and see how the good hand 
of God led so many streams of benevolence from so 
many different sources to water the first l3uddings of this 
new vme. But more than all other human instrumen- 
talities, the miwearied toils of your late Pastor deserve 
gi^ateftil recollection. It was mainly through his personal 
exertions that these contributions were secured. Many 
a day, to save expense to the Parish, has he visited neigh- 
boring towns on foot and come home at niglit utterly 
exhausted with the labors of the day, and beside all this 
toil — the wearing nature of which is known only to those 
who have performed the like — out of his own scanty 
resources he a'ave S200 of the $845 orisinallv subscribed 



20 



at home; and years after when $977 were collected here 
to pay off the debt^ $300 of that also came from Mr. 
Marsh, while of the $251 collected elsewhere at the 
same time for the same object, there was little I presume 
in the procuring of which he had not an active part. 
These facts seem due to the memory of a good man who 
labored so abundantly in laying these foundations, and 
then uncomplainingly gave place to a stranger just as the 
struggle for existence was passing into the pleasant 
course of a self sustaining life. If he ever engaged in 
other pursuits there was a need for his doing so. If 
he sometimes spoke of his labors here, he had labors 
whereof to speak. As we see him toiling at first for a 
salary of $500, and afterwards not unfrequently dona- 
ting $100 of his income to the parish, and then leaving 
so scanty an inheritance to his children, it is a relief 
to think that God does not settle with his servants in 
silver and gold, but reserves for them a better and more 
enduring portion. May we profit by the lesson and not 
set our hearts on those lower things which no christian 
seeks, but to be mercifully disappointed. 

The installation of Mr. Marsh, and the dedication of 
this house took place on the same day. May 17, 1837, 
and of all the members of the council. Dr. Blagden who 
again preached the sermon is the only one remaining in 
this vicinity. Dr. Codman who was moderator and gave 
the charge has been called home, and so has Mr. Boies 
who made the installing pi^ayer. 

It deserves mention here that the basement of this 
house was finished off as a Lecture room, and dedicated 



31 



on May 19, 1836, about one year before the meeting 
house, and though it seems too damp and unwholesome 
ever to have been used for religious worship, as it has 
not been since I came among you, and will not likely be 
again now that we have our pleasant and commodious 
chapel, yet it is a place made sacred in the memory of 
those ^ho used to assemble in it, by the communion there 
enjoyed with God; showing us how little spiritual profit 
depends on external circumstances, and how grace can 
overcome all outward hindrances. 

The first Deacons of this church were elected Feb. 28, 
1839, and were set apart by prayer on May 5th of that 
year. Of these two, one left us in 1840 ; the other still 
remains the honored senior officer of this church. 

It is no part of my design to trace the history ot 
events down to the present; I have accomplished my 
object, if I have rescued a few of the first things from 
the obKvion in which they were ready to disappear. 

Such as have been mentioned, suggest a few thoughts 
that may be for our instruction : 

First. Some may have thought that we contribute too 
much to objects of benevolence, while others may have 
been ready to boast of our charities. It may do good 
to both classes — if such exist among us — to know that 
the whole amount given for the good of others since my 
coming among you does not equal by about $500 the 
amount that others had previously expended upon us. 
Or if we add together all the known contributions of this 
cl lurch from the beginning, amounting to S7362, — of 
wliich $1017 was given previous to 1851 — this exceeds 



22 



the sum received ($6850) by only $512; so that even at 
that rate it was only within the last year that we paid 
our honest debts. 

Second. Such a review is fitted to relieve us of all 
anxiety about our labors being appreciated. Things 
look very different when viewed at the distance of a few 
years from what they did at the time of their occi^rence. 
Little personal prejudices and temporary misunderstand- 
ings pass away like the dews of the morning while the 
real service done to Christ triumphs over the wrecks of 
time. Let us never be troubled about any misinterpre- 
tation of our conduct to-day^ it will all be seen in its 
true light hereafter. 

Third. It also shows us the narrowness of om- field 
of view compared with that of God. With us the 
present crowds out all else ; men now actings events now 
occurring^ fill up the horizon ; but God takes in all the 
past and all the future. The laborers in his vineyard 
to-day, do not crowd out of sight those already gone to 
their reward. This is not overvalued, that is not over- 
looked, but all are seen alike, by him whose view of 
things shall recommend itself as the truth, to all intelli- 
gent beings forever. What a privilege to serve such a 
master ; not that he cannot detect e^dl in us, but looking 
to the blood that atones for the past, and the gTace that 
sanctifies in the ever shifting present, our joy is unmoved 
by the swell of the heaving sea of human passion and 
opinion. 

Fourth. It is useless to try to control the character 
of any particular church after we are dead; we are 



23 



prone to think we can, but history corrects our over- 
weening pride. Indeed the more we strive for the holi- 
ness and purity of any church while we live^ the greater 
may be the reaction after we are gone. We may pusli 
the pendulum on the side of piety and truth^ only to pro- 
duce a more \nolent rebound in the opposite direction. 
Our arm is short ; God alone can care for the future. 
Let us humbly seek to serve our generation as God's 
instruments in bringing smners to Chi^ist, and building 
them up in the knowledge of his truth, and leave future 
generations ^vith the Lord. He liveth and abideth for- 
ever, and while he lives the church is safe. Xew forces 
are ever coming in along the ages, to baffle the most cun- 
ningly arranged safe guards that human skill ever con- 
trived. Even an Apostle and he not a whit behind the 
very chiefest of them, was constrained to say, ^'I know that 
after my departmg, shall grievous wolves enter in among 
you, not sparing the flock. Also of your ovm selves shall 
men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disci- 
ples after them." So might John Eliot and Ebenezer 
Thayer have said, had their eyes been opened to the 
ftiture history of the churches, they labored so stedfastly 
to establish in the truth. 

Is it a vain thing then to stand up for Christ ? No, 
never ! As long as He is the corner stone of Zion. 
the gates of hell shall not prevail against her. The 
foundation of the Lord standeth sure, and of His king- 
dom there shall be no end. But our pride constrains 
God sometimes to break the human line of succession^ 
that all may see, that it is not by man, or through man, 



2i 



but by the Lord alone, that his church is maintained from 
age to age. Man entrenches the truth behind what he 
deems impregnable ramparts ; he exhausts science and 
skill in strengthening them against all attacks. But God 
allows all his barriers wherein he trusted to be broken 
down, while Clndst's truth sits in the open field unharmed 
and immortal. Man builds a costly structure around the 
Shechinah, but when he glories in its marble walls and lofty 
roof, its goodly ornament and enduring strength, God 
leaves the splendid temple desolate, and removes the ark 
into some frail tent where despised men meet to worship 
God in spirit and in truth, that all ages may learn, it is not 
by might or by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord. 

Brethren in Christ ! Let us walk humbly with God. 
Remember it is written, ^'Let him that thinketh he stand- 
eth take heed less he fall." Let us give unto the Lord the 
glory due unto his name; even unto him who saith, "Let 
not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the 
mighty man glory in his might; let not the rich man 
glory in his riches, ])ut let him that glorieth, glory in this 
that he understandeth and knoweth me." So shall the 
high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity dwell with us. 

Let us often pray that the covenant which the Fathers 
made with God in this plaoe, may come up in periX3tual 
remembrance before the throne, that this candlestick of 
the Lord may never be removed out of its place, but that 
down to the second coming of Christ it may be said of 
tills Zion, "This is the hill which God desireth to dwell 
in ; yea, the Lord will dwell in it foi*ever." Amen. 



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